Credits for: making a healthy dinner of salmon-sweet potatoes-broccoli, doing my weights and 15 minutes on the treadmill, and spending about an hour sorting thru papers. Demerits for eating sugar again. DD is a real sugar addict and there is too much stuff around still. I'm not even craving this stuff, I'm eating it because its here. Hopefully it will be gone soon. There's a lot of drama going on in DD's life and I wonder if she will be spending more time at home than I thought. Still no excuse for me to indulge.
I also spent a little thinking about moving things around in the dining room-living room area and kitchen. I am going to splurge on a new refrig soon since the one we have is not energy efficient and not big enough/poor design but it will take up a lot of room in the tiny kitchen and block one door a bit, so I need to reassess all that. Realistically the kids are home almost 5 months out of the year and causes me stress so it will be worth it.
Tonight's dinner is planned-Turkey meatloaf, potatoes and cauliflower. I may do a bit more sorting of papers depending on what else comes up during the day. I decided to wear a mask during the sorting as there's so much dust- some of these are from a few years ago -and it did cut down on the sneezing etc. I have so many masks, so why not! Bill- interesting that you like lentils so much. Plain ones are quite bland, so the spices are indeed necessary. I think i would pick cheese as my only food. Karen- I can definitely see reining things in when I'm retired. I know things will be less tight in a few years when the mortgage is paid off etc so there is that. And I'm going to challenge myself to see how little money I can spend on food when i'm by myself. Maryann-wow, I can't imagine retiring at 40, especially if I had kids. I wonder what they do for health insurance. I can see working part time though if one can swing it. I will check out that book. Gardenerjoy-structure is definitely helpful in many areas.
I went on an organizing rampage yesterday. I think I was in "keep busy mode" without the boys. I continued watching and reading the frugal stuff. Then I dived back into my clothes closets. I had been feeling again that I was struggling in the mornings with what to wear for work. When we went to the Dr's appt. last Thursday, DH asked, "Why are you so dressed up?" I replied, "I am not, you just haven't seen me out of sweats for ten months." That was a tipping point. So I embraced Project 333 for a three month stint. I ignored the voice in my head that said, "No one sees you at work." That is not true. I see myself. My husband sees me. I still grocery shop and there are still some teachers on campus. But most importantly, fitted clothes remind me that my weight matters.
So grateful I have done this before. The point is topick 33 items of clothing putting everything else away. I watched a video on dressing my body type (hourglass) then I ruthlessly divided the clothes into three piles: Sell on Poshmark; Spring/Summer/Decide Later; and 33 items of a winter wardrobe. I already feel better. I am going to wear NICER clothes on errands. By nicer I mean sweaters, soft blazers, etc. . . I will NOT sweatshirts on errands. They are for exercise and puttering around the house. (Workout and puttering clothes do not count in the 33 items.) I will not SAVE nicer clothes. Save for what?
I realized I had allowed myself to waste too much money again. Even if Poshmark has big discounts, it is still wasted money. I am not going to be hard on myself, though. I believe I have to truly live in the clothes to know if they are right for me..So, I didn't over eat last night because I was so excited about my project. I didn't get blue once. I am wearing an outfit of which I have had the pieces for a year or two and haven't put together. Win, win, win.
Karen: Good Luck with the office and report back. BBE: My spices are flat in a door as well and I love it. curleyjax: I just can't have sugary treats around the house. I read a tip to put the treats in a brown bag that was stapled and on a shelf. If a kid eats from the treat bag, it is his/her responsibility to staple it up again. I know that sounds extreme but I have done it s few times. I didn't want to break the staple. Crazy psych stuff but it has worked at various times for me.
I have both my desk top and laptop computer in the office because I need to be ready to try to book an appointment for a vaccine at 9:00. The desktop is set up for that, so I hope it will hold the information I have input so far without going to sleep. I have gotten a lot done in the office, but I will admit that most of it has gotten done this morning. I dumped a couple of journals that I wasn't using and didn't want sitting around as a reminder that I don't use them. i went through the files and discarded things that we don't need anymore. I will wait on the financial statements until after the annual statements come in soon and then those will go. The one chose I have is to check the passwords on different accounts and make a list of them. I have a couple of lists, with lots of crossing out and Lord only knows about some of them. I ate off plan snacks yesterday, but I will not beat myself up for it. Onward. I am not hiking today but will take Otis for a walk and get some other exercises done. It has actually rained this morning and it looks like we could have some for many days in a row. Yay!!!
Maryann I listened to the Project 333 book and get a weekly email from the gal who started that. She actually has a lot of good ideas. I'm glad you've been keeping yourself busy and have not been blue.
Curlyjax I'm just sure it will be easier to follow your plan when there aren't treats around for your kids. I would find that very difficult. Heck it's hard enough sometimes even when treats aren't around.
Bill Even with dh working I can't remember the day of the week at times. I didn't ever think I would get this way. It will be really bad when he isn't going to work 5 days a week.
I'll check back tomorrow with how I did on the login/pw situation.
Our spices are in a rack hanging on the back of the pantry door. Not my idea -- some previous homeowner blessed us with it. It works really well for being visible and easy to access. Unfortunately, DH's tummy grows more and more sensitive to more and more foods as he gets older. We're managing, so far, by getting more variety of spices but using them in much smaller amounts.
Exercise +45, 830/1500 minutes for January
BillBlueEyes: Our trash/recycling day is normally Tuesday, but Wednesday on the weeks we have a Monday holiday. Today, on our walk, we'll get to make fun of all of our neighbors who forgot.
curlyjax: I've also become more consistent about wearing masks while cleaning. I pulled out some old dust masks at the beginning of the crisis and used them in combination with bandannas. I think that's probably a pretty good combo, but no one's done a study on it. Some one did a study of bandannas by themselves and they may be worse than useless. So, I quit using that as my solution. But, now that the dust masks are out and accessible, I'm making better use of them for dust!
Wednesday - Elizabeth Cady Stanton becomes 1st woman to testify to US Congress (1869)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Trip to the supermarket was boring. Just as I'd like it to be. Oddly enough I had to buy oyster crackers because of COVID. In the ancient past, when Whole Foods sold soup that one would ladle from a large iron kettle, they sold little one-serving packets of oyster crackers. DW would buy these for our rare clam chowder. Alas, vats of ladled soup are no more so no more one-serving packets. I had to buy a full bag of oyster crackers from the supermarket. $1.19 buys a lot of oyster crackers. We'll each have our single servings; the bag will go back into the pantry; and, in a year, will get discarded because they are now stale. First World problem to be sure.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner included two small slices of a baguette; there's more to come tonight. I am so easily seduced by a baguette.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Interesting that you are driven to a greater variety of spices - just in smaller amounts. Which tweaks me to note that Sean Spicer is in the news this morning because he applied to join the White House Press Corps. Stranger and stranger.
maryann - LOL at your DH thinking that you are dressed up when you get out of a sweatshirt. Congrats for organizing.
Karen (karenrn) - I'm so excited that you might get your vaccination. Hope we all do . . . soon!
curlyjax - Kudos for recognizing that a new fridge is right for you. Wish you well dealing with drama in your DD's life; it's so hard not to suffer along with our kids.
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 3Get Ready to Lose
Before you start, however, I would like you to do the following 10 essential tasks:
task 10 Make Response Cards
Why Other Eating Plans Don't Work
Some foods are completely off-limits. It is unreasonable to think that you won't be able to at your favorite foods. You just need to learn how to eat them in reasonable portions. Eating plans that say, "You can't eat this ..," or "You can't eat that ...," invariably lead dieters to get off track when they inevitably return to the foods they love.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 47.
I'm going to post now so that I don't forget. Food was on plan yesterday except for the 2 drinks that I had. The scale is still up this morning from an on plan but higher calorie dinner two days in a row. Knuckling down again today. I don't need to have drinks to celebrate the inauguration, I already did. It was a bit frustrating getting the vaccine appointment as I had to check day by day for a time slot. I finally got one 2/16, but then checked back later and was able to reschedule for 2/1 at 9:42 a.m. I am very excited about being scheduled for the vaccine. Also it appears the numbers are trending down after the holidays.
Exercise today will be walking Otis and my plank and arm/shoulder exercises. It is warm and windy today and it looks like no rain again for a couple of days. You all have a great day!
I made the meatloaf which had too much ketchupy sauce on top, I think I didn't give it enough time to thicken and reduce. So its a little too sweet. Oh well, its still a good source of protein. DS wasn't here for dinner so I slacked on the other things. I'm investigating how to meal plan and cook ahead for one, other than eating the same thing for days in a row which I will also do at times. I'd like to get about 5 healthy dinners that I really like and freeze small portions of those that can be frozen, to free up time etc. Part of the meatloaf is in the freezer which I will use in a few weeks. Karen- so glad you got your vaccine scheduled for soon. So interesting how different states are doing this. I hear you on the passwords, I need to do that too. I actually have to call one of my financial places today because I can't figure out if I already made an online account or not, sheesh. I get paranoid about hiding passwords, but then 'i can't find them so that's not good either. Gardenerjoy- interesting about the spices and DH. yay for a build in spice rack. Maryann-yay for going thru clothes. I think a lot of us waste money on clothes. when I find something that is a good deal or at a thrift store, I have to restrain myself from buying too much just because its cheap, and remember I probably have something just like it at home already. I'm definitely a slob at home but don't go out in sweatpants so at least I do that. Bill- I bet the DGD would enjoy those oyster crackers as a snack; they're like a small puffy Saltine. Maybe not the most nutritious but fun to eat.
BBE: If I were a frugal blogger I would suggest you freeze smaller portions of oyster crackers. I have a food saver which is amazing as it removes all the air and makes bags of any size. But Alas, I must make my living as a teacher. Curleyjax and Karen: What is the solution to the passwords issue? At some point I actually had an app that held all the passwords and then I was paranoid that the app would be hacked or was purposefully insecure. Sigh! Now I always worry about such and just use a two different basic codes with several mutations. If I am lucky I get the password in three tries before I am locked out.
Yesterday I was REALLY hungry when I got home from school and overate dinner while standing. I don't know if I can cheer being hungry if it lead to the wrong behavior. I took my lunch walk. Credit. I had soup for dinner which I am trying to incorporate into meals more since research shows soups are very friendly to weight loss plans. Today My mother is coming for a haircut, dinner and a movie. I will enter my food into MFP.
A cute little story on my wardrobe project. I was sitting n the dentist's office yesterday wearing my first "new" outfit. A woman came into the lobby and said, "Oh I love that jacket and necklace." People do notice.
Quick check-in before a jump into a virtual Inauguration Party. I've got a full day with mid-day activities around this party and two back-to-back meetings tonight. The easiest thing to do will be to follow my plan as written, so that's what I'll do.
I'm wearing pearls for Kamala Harris. And, that didn't seem right without makeup and button-down shirt. I've only been dressed up this much once since March and that was to give a presentation.
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chase the (5 yo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. She read and snuggled with me when we first arrived. Then she's off for games with her grandmother. Didn't make it outside which is normally our favorite time of the visit.
Watched the inauguration ceremony on TV, including the speech by our new president and the poem by Amanda Gorman. Such a positive event all around. The DGD sung "This Land is Your Land" along with Jennifer Lopez. And thought that Lady Gaga's dress was wonderful. Later, my DD commented that she was so glad that Lady Gaga chose a dress that was safe for TV, "Few of them are," LOL.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner of Dahl included some of the baguette. Was fun to talk about Amanda Gorman's poem during dinner instead of political news.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Love the image of you wearing pearls in honor of Kamala Harris while wearing a button-down shirt. I should have worn one of my neckties for the occasion.
maryann - Congrats for being dressed to draw a compliment from a stranger.
Karen (karenrn) - Marking my calendar to celebrate your vaccination at 9:42 a.m Arizona Time, on February 1st, 2021. That's an amazingly specific time.
curlyjax - Yay for having some meatloaf in the freezer for an easy meal in the future. Good idea to see if the DGD would accept oyster crackers as a car snack while driving her home. She currently gets animal crackers which are similarly non-nutritious.
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 4Stage 1 - The Success Skills Plan
Okay, ready to roll up your sleeves? You have reached the part of the program that teaches you the skills you need to get ready for dieting. I can guarantee that either you have never learned all of these skills or you have never been able to consistently use them.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 50.
I didn't get to watch the inaugeration since I was working and then took a nap during my lunch, but I figure there will be lots of opportunities to catch glimpses of it on youtube etc. I woke up today thinking, how great does Kamala Harris feel this morning! Finally a woman leader!
I called my financial place and pulled some money out, relieved that my investments are doing okay, for today anyhow. I'm very lucky to have money set aside for the kids college, thanks in large part to my parents. In February I'm going to really examine my financials and see where things are being spent. And address the passwords.
Today I'm zipping out for a lunchtime walk with a friend I haven't seen in awhile. Its cold out but we'll bundle up. She's actually had both shots, working in a hospital. Maryann-I'm not thrilled about the "one password for all" either. I've heard suggestions that sound like yours- come up with a saying and change parts of it. Gardenerjoy-What a fun idea, inaugeration party! Bill-yay for snuggling with DGD. That's what a lot of my elders miss, hugging their family members, the ones that are taking it seriously that is.
I dedicated part of every class to streaming the Inauguration. First period saw the swearing in and third period saw the ceremonial troops marching past the president symbolizing the submission to the rule of law. I contrasted it with a slide of the Uganda elections that happened last week in which the current leader had called out "his" military to assure reelection. In Uganda, Twitter and Facebook also were shut off. We will study both today in US History. I am glad to be able to talk about these current events with the kids. Still this week is one of those where I feel I am forcing myself to get up and out the door. It is like when I set the clock to do house work for 30 mins and end up doing much more. I feel I am "setting the clock" to show up to school. "Do the bare minimum today ," I tell myself but then I get into the right mode and pull off the classes. I try to do one thing special for each class - listen to a student who has now been put in charge of his 9 year old boy and is worried about getting his classwork in. I had a contest of making something creative out of a piece of paper which kids then held up to the camera. So it all works out but I know the blues are trying to creep in. Our parents in the district are yelling about how lazy the teachers are because many do not want to go back in person until we are fully vaccinated in March. This doesn't help.I had an appt. with the shrink so I have a plan if I need more help.
On a happy note: Mom came up for a visit to get her hair cut, have dinner and a movie. She looked great and was wearing a new outfit. She spent the night.
Food was just okay with too many slices of thin crust, homemade pesto pizza. I did do my steps. I did not put my food into MFP. I will today.
Food was on plan yesterday but it was a lazy day spent mostly in front of the television as was planned. I did run a couple of errands and walked Otis. This morning I got out of the house early, but then it was raining at the trailhead. I waited a bit, but when it didn't stop I just came back home. I cleaned the inside of my car and I'm thinking about heading out again. I listened to a Brene Brown podcast of an interview with Melinda Gates while I cleaned the car. It really helps to focus on something else when I'm doing something I really don't real like doing. The skies are clearing and I think I'll head out again when I finish this post. My food plan is made for the day. I didn't get too far with the password project. When I saw my list of passwords on my phone I couldn't believe how many different places I have a password. I think I'll just make a list of the most important ones, mainly financial and be sure I also have a written list in with our trust info. The problem is I'll need to be sure I update it occasionally.
Maryann I'm sorry you're feeling a bit low. I bet your bare minimum is about what others strive to do. Curlyjax I just keep thinking how exhausted Kamala and Joe must be and they are just getting started. Bill I bet dgd thought Lady Gaga's dress was wonderful . . . there was a lot of dress there. I saw a funny about the dove growing and then flying off with her at the end of the song. GardenerJoy I hope you enjoyed your Inauguration party. I was busy texting with friends all thru the day. I was so glad that it was such a beautiful day.
Okay, I had better get back out the door before I talk myself out of it. I have plenty of time for a hike so no excuses for me today.
DH has his pre-op check-in, plus COVID test, for next week's prostate biopsy. So some of today will be making sure that we understand everything because tomorrow will be the day to get questions answered and to check that we understand the plan. All a source of stress. None if it helped by eating.
Friday - Katie Mulcahey is arrested for "women smoking in public" (1908, NY, NY)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - DW had lunch with a friend - happens about monthly. It's too cold to eat on the patio so they order pickup at a favorite Thai Restaurant and eat at our kitchen table spaced eight feet apart. I drop by to say hello wearing a mask. Just the new normal.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Finished late enough that I was eating my evening snack Cosmic Crisp Apple during my 7:00 pm Zoom meeting. Had to mute myself since 'crisp' readily describes the apple and the sound of its crunch. It was a meeting of four people in three states - Zoom at its best. Suspect that we won't go back to face-to-face meetings even when normal returns.
Heroic act was to finally replace an overhead light in the kitchen, CREDIT moi. Four up-facing fluorescence bulbs above the cabinets provide a soft indirect kitchen light that we like. We discovered this design some forty years ago when we were preparing to give a party after we'd just moved in. Remembered that the kitchen had no lights. So I stuck a pair of shop lights from the basement over the cabinets. Not only did it suffice, we grew to really like it. Being a four bulb design, when one bulb burns out, it's almost as good. I'm OK with three bulbs; DW notes the loss. Goes on my honey-do list. Finally got around to replacing it. Received my hero's reward. Around here, we can take the burned-out bulb to the local hardware store for proper disposal.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Good luck today with your DH's pre-op check-in. Does create tension more than it would in normal times.
maryann - Congrats for having the courage to discuss the inauguration. Just heard of a family split caused because a father felt the transfer of power to the new president was justified by the vote and the son threatened to never talk to him again. I shuddered when I heard that. Homemade pesto pizza does sound good.
Karen (karenrn) - Good luck with the password project. I, too, have a zillion passwords - only a few are to places that I need to keep safe.
curlyjax - Neat to know someone who has had both COVID-19 vaccinations. My friend in California just got hers because they had more shots than folks showing up so they sent out a request for anybody to drop by - serendipity.
Readers -
Quote:
chapter 4Stage 1 - The Success Skills Plan
That is a major reason you haven't yet been successful. These skills can help you overcome the obstacles that have plagued you in the past. By learning, practicing, and mastering the Success Skills, you will set the stage not only for weight loss, but also for keeping off excess weight permanently.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 50.
Wednesday - Elizabeth Cady Stanton becomes 1st woman to testify to US Congress (1869)
